Thread: Engine Cleaning?

white gloopy-
does it have an oily feel to it?
methinks you may have a leak somewhere letting the engine oil contaminate the coolant system.
drain some of the white gloopy into a clear container and let it stand for a while, I think after a while you will see it separating and the water will be at the bottom of the container and the oil above.


most likely head gasket, but there could be something else allowing the two to mix.


just reread your post, another problem could just be the product of corrosion of the alloy, and hopefully a good flush with water should fix that, and retreat with coolant as most coolant contains a corrosion inhibitor.

Yea, to clarify the white gloopy was kinda like a wallpaper paste in the pipe, but at the thermostat cover more a cross between silicone sealant and scrambled egg...

Thick white "gloopy" stuff is what coolant turns into (cheap sh*t stuff) when its been sitting way too long without circulation. Remove hoses and thermostat and flush out cooling system with water and get radiator flushed or cleaned out. Should be ok after that. I see a lot of that stuff working in a wrecking yard sometimes. The stuff can even go hard like concrete sometimes on top of thermostats and in the outlets and water pumps. Hope this helps.

Cheers Rod

Well I have scraped the thermostat housing clean and there does not appear to be much in the rad, but as it has a hole and no water it didn't get much time to sit and congeal I guess. Just have to do the pump end and hope she's not badly bunged up inside, glad to hear that it's hopefully not too major, was starting to question my sanity about buying her in the first place! I shall happily attack her with a hose and leave questions about my state of mind to the wife.

I am assuming you have a 2.25? Remove the thermostat housing and bottom radiator hose and you should be able to flush it out. There should be a drain on the LHS of the block also.

However it sounds as if it could be emulsified engine oil and if it was me I would be pulling the head off.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

I am assuming you have a 2.25? Remove the thermostat housing and bottom radiator hose and you should be able to flush it out. There should be a drain on the LHS of the block also.

However it sounds as if it could be emulsified engine oil and if it was me I would be pulling the head off.

Not a 2.25, Holden 186, but they are probably set up in a similar fashion.
If pulling the head doesn't require the engine to leave the car I may well do it as well, can't hurt to have a look in there... Though I dread what issues I may uncover, the oil was smoking from the filler cap when she first started so that can't be a good sign, but it does appear to have far too much in there if the dipstick is to be believed

[so that can't be a good sign, but it does appear to have far too much in there if the dipstick is to be believed[/QUOTE]


so it may have a sump full of water and oil, drain it into a container and see what you get

Ok, moment of truth for the oil, drained the sump and although the oil looks horrible I can't see any sign of water in there.



Any rate, changed the oil and flushed the coolant system out with a hose, not a lot of gunk in there that came out so that's good I guess and she doesn't run so hot any more, but the radiator steams as soon as I turn the engine off from the cap at the top, a fair bit of steam too.

Silly question of the day, is the fan supposed to suck air through the rad from outside or blow it through from inside?